MARITIME Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1334 To require the Secretary of Defense to develop, in cooperation with allies and partners in the Middle East, an integrated maritime domain aware- ness and interdiction capability, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 27, 2023 Ms. ROSEN (for herself, Ms. ERNST, Mr. BOOKER, and Mr. LANKFORD) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Foreign Relations A BILL To require the Secretary of Defense to develop, in coopera- tion with allies and partners in the Middle East, an integrated maritime domain awareness and interdiction capability, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Maritime Architecture 4 and Response to International Terrorism In the Middle 5 East Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘MARITIME Act of 2023’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:40 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1334.IS S1334 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1334 IS SEC. 2. MIDDLE EAST INTEGRATED MARITIME DOMAIN 1 AWARENESS AND INTERDICTION CAPA- 2 BILITY. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense, in con- 4 sultation with the Secretary of State, shall seek to build 5 upon the historic opportunities created by the Abraham 6 Accords and the incorporation of Israel into the area of 7 responsibility of the United States Central Command to 8 develop a Middle East integrated maritime domain aware- 9 ness and interdiction capability for the purpose of pro- 10 tecting the people, infrastructure, and territory of such 11 countries from— 12 (1) manned and unmanned naval systems, un- 13 dersea warfare capabilities, and anti-ship missiles of 14 Iran and groups affiliated with Iran; and 15 (2) violent extremist organizations, criminal 16 networks, and piracy activities that threaten lawful 17 commerce in the waterways within the area of re- 18 sponsibility of the United States Naval Forces Cen- 19 tral Command. 20 (b) STRATEGY.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 22 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 23 of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of 24 State, shall submit to the appropriate committees of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:40 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1334.IS S1334 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1334 IS Congress a strategy for the cooperation described in 1 subsection (a). 2 (2) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The strategy 3 required by paragraph (1) shall include the fol- 4 lowing: 5 (A) An assessment of the threats posed to 6 ally or partner countries in the Middle East 7 by— 8 (i) manned and unmanned naval sys- 9 tems, undersea warfare capabilities, and 10 anti-ship missiles of Iran and groups affili- 11 ated with Iran; and 12 (ii) violent extremist organizations, 13 criminal networks, and piracy activities 14 that threaten lawful commerce in the wa- 15 terways within the area of responsibility of 16 the United States Naval Forces Central 17 Command. 18 (B) A description of existing multilateral 19 maritime partnerships currently led by the 20 United States Naval Forces Central Command, 21 including the Combined Maritime Forces (in- 22 cluding its associated Task Forces 150, 151, 23 152, and 153), the International Maritime Se- 24 curity Construct (including its Coalition Task 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:40 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1334.IS S1334 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1334 IS Force SENTINEL), and the Navy’s Task 1 Force 59, and a discussion of the role of such 2 partnerships in building an integrated maritime 3 security capability. 4 (C) A description of efforts made and les- 5 sons learned in advancing the integration of 6 Israel into the existing multilateral maritime 7 partnerships described in subparagraph (B). 8 (D) A description of efforts among coun- 9 tries in the Middle East to coordinate intel- 10 ligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance capa- 11 bilities and indicators and warnings with re- 12 spect to the threats described in subparagraph 13 (A), and a description of any impediment to op- 14 timizing such efforts. 15 (E) A description of the current Depart- 16 ment of Defense systems that, in coordination 17 with ally and partner countries in the Middle 18 East— 19 (i) provide awareness of and defend 20 against such threats; and 21 (ii) address current capability gaps. 22 (F) An explanation of the manner in which 23 an integrated maritime domain awareness and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:40 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1334.IS S1334 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1334 IS interdiction architecture would improve collec- 1 tive security in the Middle East. 2 (G) A description of existing and planned 3 efforts to engage ally and partner countries in 4 the Middle East in establishing such an archi- 5 tecture. 6 (H) An identification of the elements of 7 such an architecture that may be acquired and 8 operated by ally and partner countries in the 9 Middle East, and a list of such elements for 10 each such ally and partner. 11 (I) An identification of the elements of 12 such an architecture that may only be provided 13 and operated by members of the United States 14 Armed Forces. 15 (J) An identification of any challenge to 16 optimizing such an architecture in the Middle 17 East. 18 (K) An assessment of progress and key 19 challenges in the implementation of the strategy 20 required by paragraph (1) using the metrics 21 identified in accordance with paragraph (3). 22 (L) Recommendations for improvements in 23 the implementation of such strategy based on 24 such metrics. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:40 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1334.IS S1334 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1334 IS (M) An assessment of any capabilities or 1 lessons from the Navy’s Task Force 59 that 2 may be leveraged to support an integrated mar- 3 itime domain awareness and interdiction capa- 4 bility in the Middle East. 5 (N) A description and assessment of the 6 joint bilateral and multinational maritime exer- 7 cises conducted in the Middle East since the es- 8 tablishment of the Navy’s Task Force 59, in- 9 cluding a discussion of the manner in which 10 such exercises have impacted the efforts and 11 lessons detailed under subparagraphs (C), (D), 12 and (M). 13 (O) A description of collaboration opportu- 14 nities between the intelligence, reconnaissance, 15 and surveillance capabilities of the Navy’s Task 16 Force 59 and the Air Force’s Task Force 99 to 17 support a joint-service approach to maritime 18 domain awareness with sea-based and air-based 19 unmanned assets. 20 (P) Any other matter the Secretary of De- 21 fense considers relevant. 22 (3) METRICS.—The Secretary of Defense shall 23 identify metrics to assess progress in the implemen- 24 tation of the strategy required by paragraph (1). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:40 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1334.IS S1334 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1334 IS (4) FORMAT.—The strategy required by para- 1 graph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form but 2 may include a classified annex. 3 (c) FEASIBILITY STUDY.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense 5 shall conduct a study on the feasibility and advis- 6 ability of establishing a fund for an integrated mari- 7 time domain awareness and interdiction capability to 8 protect the people, infrastructure, and territory of 9 ally and partner countries in the Middle East 10 from— 11 (A) manned and unmanned naval systems, 12 undersea warfare capabilities, and anti-ship 13 missiles of Iran and groups affiliated with Iran; 14 and 15 (B) violent extremist organizations, crimi- 16 nal networks, and piracy activities that threaten 17 lawful commerce in the waterways of the Middle 18 East. 19 (2) ELEMENT.—The study required by para- 20 graph (1) shall include an assessment of funds that 21 could be contributed by ally and partner countries of 22 the United States. 23 (3) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the 24 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:40 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1334.IS S1334 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 1334 IS Defense shall submit to the appropriate committees 1 of Congress a report on the results of the study con- 2 ducted under paragraph (1). 3 (d) PROTECTION OF SENSITIVE INFORMATION.—Any 4 activity carried out under this section shall be conducted 5 in a manner that appropriately protects sensitive informa- 6 tion and the national security interests of the United 7 States. 8 (e) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS DE- 9 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate commit- 10 tees of Congress’’ means— 11 (1) the Committee on Armed Services, the 12 Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on 13 Foreign Relations, and the Select Committee on In- 14 telligence of the Senate; and 15 (2) the Committee on Armed Services, the 16 Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on 17 Foreign Affairs, and the Permanent Select Com- 18 mittee on Intelligence of the House of Representa- 19 tives. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:40 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1334.IS S1334 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB